N.D. Senate Update for April 22, 2019

We started the 62nd legislative day Monday, April 8. This week's report will be rather short considering that many, many bills are in Conference Committee and are in limbo. To report on any of them would be premature. This time of the session there is a lot of compromising and collaboration taking place, both in committees and in the halls. Lobbyists are still working to get amendments on bills or to get a specific piece of legislation passed or defeated.

Currently most bills are out of regular committees except for the House and Senate Ethics bills. One thing that is interesting is how many different checks and balances we have in our North Dakota Legislature to pass good pieces of legislation. All Senate bills are heard in a Senate Committee, voted on in that committee and then to the Senate for a vote of all Senators. If the bill passes, it moves to the House where it has another hearing in a House Committee. That committee votes to make a recommendation to the full House for their vote. If the bill passes there, it may end up in a Conference Committee made up of three Senator and three Representatives. To move a bill out of Conference Committee it takes 2 members from each Chamber to approve of the recommendations. It is not just a majority of the six-member Conference Committee. Then the bill goes back to the chamber of origin for a final explanation. After that, if the bill is still alive, it will go to the Governor for his approval. He can veto it if he chooses or veto portions of it. All these steps give assurances to the voters that bills have been thoroughly vetted. Now we all may not like the outcome, but there are several chances to make changes along the way.

Thursday the Senate considered a veto override of SB 2055. This bill establishes the framework for the Budget Section. The Budget Section is leadership and Appropriations membership from both chambers and works during the Interim to approve the receipt of Federal Funds and any Emergency Commission approvals. This committee is essential to the work over the 20 months that the legislature is not in session. Without this committee, there would be a need for annual sessions to do that work.

Friday the House also voted to override the veto of SB 2055. With that taking place, SB 2055 will be in effect until the Governor files a lawsuit. This bill was written as the Chief Justice suggested in his opinion when the legislature took the Governor to court. More to come later!

Two bills addressing education are being finalized. SB 2013 is the Department of Public Instruction's budget bill, and SB 2265 is the state aid distribution bill for public school funding. In addition to the per pupil payments of $9839 for 2019-20 and $10,036 for 2020-21, changes will allow growing schools to receive some state aide based on their current enrollment. Normally, payments are based on the previous year's enrollment. An increase of one day for professional development has been added, bringing the total to three days. There is $600,000 for Advanced Placement coursework and exams. There is $1.5 million for a variety of grant programs including family engagement, teacher/principal evaluations, and leveraging the senior year program. Also included is $3 million in grants to schools with rapidly increasing enrollment and $600,000 in music education grants.

As other budgets move out from Conference Committee, additional numbers can be finalized. Right now, almost all agency budgets are in Conference Committee.

My caucus members volunteered at Heaven’s Helpers Soup Café Wednesday evening. We spent two hours serving food, cleaning up, and prepping food for Thursday. The café is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. By 6 p.m. Wednesday they served 240 meals at no charge. Staffing is all voluntary and people come from not only Bismarck/Mandan to volunteer, but there was an individual from Washburn there who comes every Wednesday to provide help as needed. A young man from St. Mary’s High School was there volunteering as part of his six hours a month of volunteerism. We hope our efforts helped the mission of Heaven’s Helpers Soup Café with the important work they do.

The New Rockford-Sheyenne School Senior class visited the Capitol Wednesday. Some students had the opportunity to sit in with legislators during the House and Senate afternoon floor sessions. I enjoyed listening to the student observations of the session. Thanks, NR-S students and Mr. Brown for your interest in the ND legislature.

We also had students from the UND Law School visit on Thursday. One of our former Administrative Assistants is now a law school student and was with the group.

As we approach the end of session (expected to be the week of April 22), things are moving quickly as bills move out of Conference Committee.

You can reach me at [email protected] or by calling (701) 302-0355.

Have a great week!